On the production of light and soft products (such as, toilet paper, cloth, films, for example), a roller provided with several suction holes is often utilized to suck these kinds of light and soft products. Moreover, these light and soft products are capable of being conveyed successfully and then to be processed on the production line by means of the rotation of the roller.
Dust in air or dust generated from the materials of these kinds of light and soft products themselves may be sucked into the suction holes of the roller one after another, while the products are sucked by the suction holes. In the suction holes, after a period of time, dirt accumulated with dust may be aggregated, and then block is likely to be generated. The capability of suction of the roller may be reduced so as to affect the conveying of products, on the condition of the occurrence of block in a part of the suction hole.
In the past, backwashing (or referred to as positive pressure wash) is utilized to wash the suction holes for avoiding the generation of block in the suction holes. In backwashing, air is poured into the interior of the roller to blow dirt away together with the air source through the suction holes, such that the block of dirt in the suction holes is avoided.
When backwashing is utilized for washing the suction holes of the roller, however, there often exist problems as follows:
(1) It is probable to blow dirt accumulated in the apertures of the suction holes away completely by means of backwashing if the suction hole is not blocked entirely yet. Nevertheless, it is ultimately impossible to blow dirt accumulated in the suction holes away by means of backwashing if the block in the suction holes is serious. In this case, slowly pricking each suction hole one after another with a sharp needle manually is only way for cleaning. Thus, inspection and cleaning should be laborious and time-consuming.
(2) The roller must be shut down when backwashing is used for washing the suction holes. Moreover, the roller must be shut down frequently for maintenance and cleaning, which results in an increased downtime of production line and thus a reduced production efficiency, correspondingly, so as to avoid the situation of serious block resulted from too much dirt accumulated in the suction holes.
(3) If the suction holes of the roller are cleaned by means of backwashing, dirt blown away from the suction holes may be scattered over the equipment or working platform and then should be cleaned in a laborious and time-consuming way, leading to bother in maintenance.